Samsung Electronics' operating profit rebounds in Q4

Samsung Electronics posted a 30 percent gain in operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2014 from three months earlier on the back of strong semiconductor sales, the company said Thursday.
Operating profit increased to 5.29 trillion won (4.87 billion U. S. dollars) in the three months ending Dec. 31 from 4.06 trillion won in the third quarter of 2014. From a year earlier, the profit declined 36 percent.
After peaking at a record 10.16 trillion won in the third quarter of 2013, Samsung's operating profit kept falling to 4.06 trillion won in the third quarter of 2014 before rebounding the next quarter.
Revenue was 52.73 trillion won in the fourth quarter. It was up 11 percent from three months earlier, but down 11 percent from a year earlier.
The final figures were slightly higher than preliminary estimates unveiled earlier this month by the company of 5.2 trillion won in operating profit and 52 trillion won in revenue.
The relatively optimistic fourth-quarter profit came as Samsung 's semiconductor business posted a 2.7 trillion won operating profit, which accounted for more than half of the total. It also marked the highest in about four years.